1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to accessories for attaching to the base section of trunking for routing electrical cables or conductors and in particular to accessories referred to as finishing accessories which assure continuous protection of the cables at interruptions between lengths of cover section closing the trunking where a device is fitted, at the end of the trunking or at a corner.
The invention relates more .particularly to an accessory which is attached to the base section of trunking for routing electrical cables or conductors incorporating a joint inside the trunking for masking any longitudinal gap beyond an edge of at least one length of cover section.
2. Description of the Prior Art
French patent 2 651387 describes an accessory of the above kind in which the joint is a plane wall adapted to be positioned under adjacent lengths of cover section to close any gap between the cut edges of the lengths of cover section if they are not cut accurately.
This kind of joint therefore prevents the passage of any kind of object between the two lengths of cover section and assures continuous insulation so that the trunking conforms to applicable standards.
Although the above kind of joint is entirely satisfactory, in particular from the point of view of conformance of the trunking to the applicable standards, and equally, for trunking installers, in terms of the speed of fitting it, to which this parameter contributes, it is not always suitable from the esthetic point of view, especially if the trunking is relatively wide.
In this case, the lengths of closure cover section are also wide and are even more difficult to cut because this can make the cut edges more skewed.
The gap between juxtaposed lengths of cover section can therefore be relatively large, clearly showing the joint, which mars the finished esthetic appearance of the trunking.
To overcome the drawback referred to above, especially for wide trunking, it has already been proposed to associate with the joint a joint-cover which covers the joint and the cut edges of the lengths of cover section, which can therefore be cut without taking special care.
To facilitate fitting the joint-cover, a joint-cover support can be used that generally incorporates at each end, covered by a length of cover section, a step running across the whole of its width and against which the respective length of cover section abuts.
This kind of support is described in published French patent application 2 772 200 in particular.
This kind of solution is satisfactory from the point of view of conformance of the assembly to the applicable standards, and also from the esthetic point of view if the joint-cover reproduces the external appearance and colorway of the cover section of the trunking.
European patent 0 630 090 discloses sandwiching two successive lengths of cover section between a joint on the inside and a joint-cover on the outside, the joint having a portion that locates between the two lengths of cover section.
The accessory described in European patent 0 630 090 is complex to manufacture and use and its main drawback is the fact that the unesthetic projection of its joint-cover deters some installers, who continue to prefer to install trunking with no accessories and therefore not conforming to the applicable standards.
If the cover section of the trunking has a decorative pattern formed during extrusion or by reworking, for example by applying a coating imitating various textures, such as that of wood, stone or the like, the presence of an injected joint-cover at the interruption in the cover section, even if its color coordinates with that of the decoration of the cover section, is not always to the taste of the installer, who prefers to install contiguous lengths of cover section carefully cut to the correct length.
Compared to the technique mentioned above, the present invention proposes a new low-cost accessory for attaching to the base section of trunking for routing electrical cables or conductors that is simple to manufacture and provides the installer with a marker for locating the cut edges of the lengths of cover section or other members to be juxtaposed along the length of the base section, enabling the installer to choose whether to cover the cut edges with a joint-cover or not, according to the care with which the installer wishes to cut said lengths of cover section or other members, and the esthetics required for the installation as a whole.
The invention provides an accessory for attaching to a base second of trunking for routing electrical cables or conductors. The accessory includes a joint inside the trunking for masking any longitudinal gap beyond an edge of a length of covered section. The joint includes an elastically deformable wall adapted to deform elastically between a first configuration in which at least a portion of the wall is at the same level as the cover section and a second configuration in which the wall is at a lower level than the cover section.
Consequently, in accordance with the invention, at an interruption in the cover section closing the trunking that requires the installer to cut the cover section into lengths, if the installer decides to install a joint-cover, he uses the wall forming the joint when in its first configuration. More particularly, the part of that wall at the level of the cover section, to measure the appropriate lengths of cover section to be cut so that the cut edges of the lengths of cover section, when they are fitted to the base section of the trunking, locate against this wall portion forming the joint, leaving between them at most a gap reduced to the width of the wall forming joint. Then, on positioning the joint-cover on the wall forming the joint, the wall deforms elastically into its second configuration in which it is deformed under the joint-cover and moves to a level lower than that of the cover section, to be more precise a level between the cover section and the base second of the trunking.
If the installer does not wish to use a jointcover, he can nevertheless use the accessory according to the invention as a joint, which deforms elastically under the two lengths of closely spaced cover section from its first configuration to its second configuration, as explained above.
Other advantageous and non-limiting features of the accessory according to the invention are set out hereinafter.
The accessory in accordance with the invention being associated with a cover section of bulging shape, the wall forming the joint has a plane shape in its first configuration and a bulging shape in its second configuration espousing that of the associated cover section.
The accessory in accordance with the invention being associated with a cover section of essentially plane shape, wherein the wall forming the joint has a bulging shape in its first configuration and an essentially plane shape in its second configuration espousing that of the associated cover section.
The wall forming the joint carries on an inside face, which faces towards the back of the cover section of the trunking, attachment means for attaching it onto an edge of a partition of the base section. The attachment means can be in the form of clipping means, preferably including two facing tongues projecting from the inside face of the wall forming the joint and inclined thereto.
The accessory includes a joint-cover adapted to cover the wall forming the joint and the edge of the length of cover section and an edge of another member, the edges being positioned on either side of the joint to form a continuous outside wall between the length of cover section and the member.
In this embodiment the wall forming the joint in its second configuration is shorter than the joint-cover so that it leaves uncovered the ends of the joint-cover which carry clips which clip into groove means provided on the base section.
The joint-cover advantageously has a shape espousing that of the length of cover section.
The wall forming the joint extends over a greater part of the width of the base section of the trunking.
The wall forming the joint is molded from a plastics material.
The following description, which is given by way of non-limiting example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, explains in what the invention consists and how it can be put into effect.